it is not working. >> christine, mitt romney has a point. that gdp number shows a very weak economy. americans are feeling better about the economy despite the fact we have hard numbers that show the economy is not doing well. what's going on? >> so the consumer confidence is taken from the third quarter, right? that was the second quarter. we know in the second quarter we had a drought, and that drought was something that suppressed economic activity and we also knew that drought was temporary and could be overcome. the question is, are people feeling better as we get close to the election because the economy isn't -- >> you're saying it's enough. >> it's a rearview mirror indicator, and now people are looking guarforward. you look at the polls over and over and a majority of people say feels bad now, i think it's going to be better next year. you're starting to get a little optimism, and that's because this was an emergency for four years. now bad things about the economy have become chronic, not emergency anymore. people in a weird way ar